Anyone try Lets Go from Orange?
 

http://boutique.orange.fr/ESHOP_mx_o...=50988&type=11


8 Euro for the SIM with some limited amount of data, then top off with 1 GB over 7 days for 10 Euro or 2 GB over 30 days for 20 Euro.

MOre info at:

http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/France

I'm going in April and my concerns are that it may not activate instantly and it may not be available in all the shops and tabacs, esp. the recharge cards.

Going to Corsica and while they do list shops there (and even 4G coverage in the big cities), I wonder.

Surprising there hasn't been any discussion, seems a lot better product for visitors to France than Mobicarte, from a data use POV.

Have you considered EuropaSIM - it's 3 euros per day across most of the EU for 500GB - and 25 mins inbound and outbound calls as part of the deal.

12 months lifetime between topups.

That's pretty much my European options these days - saves time, although for low usage, it can prove expensive at 21 euros a week.

+Steve :)

Well I did go for the Orange Lets Go SIM.

Was hoping to pick it up in Nice, during a layover in my flights, because I didn't know if it was in all the Orange shops and Corsica only had two shops listed for the whole island.

But I had to go to the shop in Ajaccio, which is in the center of a very traffic-congested town.

The clerks there seemed to be well-aware of the product and they topped it up and even though it had been reported elsewhere that the data bundle takes 24 or 48 hours to activate, it was instant and they topped it up for me. It's also reported that the first top-up must be via phone, not via the Internet.

Nor was there some information on activating and topping up by SMS.

So it seems to be a pretty good option. A lot of people seem to be gravitating towards Joe but it's hard to beat the convenience of Orange shops all over France -- though annoying that airports, at least NCE, doesn't have any shops selling SIMs, but they do sell top-up cards.

Actually 500 MB (Mega Byte), not Giga Byte.

Also has 50 SMS on it.

Downside is the 3.50 euros or something fee when you top-up for any amount.

Hi. A question to the French connaisseurs from the prepaid data WIKI:

The Let's go data-only SIM has been rebranded by Orange and is now called Pochette Prêt Ã* surfer.

It's now on 4G too, allows VoIP and tethering (in contrast to Mobicarte). And it has really good rates for data: 1 GB for 10€ or 5 GB for 40 €. That's cheap for France.

This all sounds too good to be true. And there is a catch: Orange does not allow to use it in a smartphone! It's strictly for tablets, routers, modems, WIFI hotpots a.s.o.

WCO81 gave a feedback on the Flyer Talk forum that he could use it in an iPhone back in 2014. A user on the prepaid WIKI just came back not being able to get data on his iPhone.

So we need to find out whether you can use Orange's data-only SIM on a phone too. Officially customer support says no. But I think it's very hard to block data on a phone. At the same time they allow tethered data to the phone from a hotspot.

On the other hand even sellers on Ebay now state Orange's official policy of not being able to use it on a phone. Orange did some silly restrictions in the past, so it would not be a surprise. But there must be a workaround. Is it a problem for the iPhone to change APNs for this SIM? Would it work on an Android?

Any experience would be appreciated and of course published on the WIKI. Thanks for your cooperation.

Sorry if I gave the impression that I tried Lets Go on an iPhone.

I only tried on iPad mini, where I got 4G speeds as well as tethering.

I bought the 2 GB bundle for €20 on two separate occasions and it worked well in both cases (but not so well in the mountain villages of les baux de Provence).

That's quite a jump from 1 GB to 5 GB. Hope there is some intermediate spot like 3 GB.

3GB it's 25€ for 1 month. ;)

Thanks for your replies.
That wco81 used it in an iPad mini which is a "qualified" tablet instead of an iPhone which is disqualified by Orange explains why it worked properly. And it shows how ridiculous this difference is.

All over the world operators sell data-only SIM cards aimed at tablets and modems that have or have not voice or text. Mostly, they are a bit cheaper than the data bundles for voice cards. And in most places, you can easily use them in any GSM device for data. It's very hard for an operator to enforce this distinction. Most of the time, they simply switch off voice to deter smartphone users.

These operators actually try to maintain this difference:
1.) In the US AT&T determines the "qualified device" by its IMEI no. If the tablet or modem is not recognized as such, the plan is automatically set to voice&data. But you can call customer service and have it set to a data-only plan manually.
2.) In the UK Three tries to prevent the "misuse" of their smartphone PAYG SIM which is cheaper than their Mobile Broadband PAYG SIM by TTL packet inspection. The internet is full of bypasses.
3.) Some operators may also check the mobile browser used. But they are very similar on smartphones and tablets.

If we can find out how Orange determines that a smartphone is used instead of a tablet, router or modem, we might figure out a workaround.
I don't want to question Orange's T&Cs. But according to their policy, a smartphone can't be used with their data SIM, but a mobile hotspot router (mifi) can, which can link by WIFI to the same previously banned phone. To require this intermediate just doesn't make sense to me. But Orange in France only has sometimes very strange ideas.

Thanks for your replies.
That wco81 used it in an iPad mini which is a qualified tablet instead of an iPhone which is disqualified by Orange explains why it worked properly. And it shows how ridiculous this difference is.

All over the world operators sell data-only SIM cards that have or have not voice or text. Mostly, they are a bit cheaper than the data bundles for voice cards. And in most places, you can easily use them in any GSM device for data. It's very hard for an operator to make this distinction. Normally, they just shut off voice to deter smartphone users.

1.) In the US AT&T determins the "qualified device" by its IMEI no. If the tablet or modem is not recognized as such, the plan is automatically set to voice&data. But you can call customer service and have it set to a data-only plan manually.
2.) In the UK Three tries to prevent the "misuse" of their smartphone PAYG SIM which is cheaper than their Mobile Broadband PAYG by TTL packet inspection. The internet is full of bypasses. The same is true to some tethering restrictions.
3.) Some operators may also check the mobile browser used. But they are very similar on smartphones and tablets.

If we can find out how Orange determines that a smartphone is used instead of a tablet, router or modem, we might figure out a workaround.
I don't want to question Orange's T&Cs. But according to their policy, a smartphone can't be used with their data SIM, but a mobile hotspot router (mifi) can, which can link by Wifi to the same previously banned phone. To require this intermediate just doesn't make sense to me

Even if you can get it to work on a phone, it doesn't include voice or SMS does it?

That's for sure. It does not contain voice or text: L’offre ne permet pas d’usages voix ni SMS/MMS That's clear.

But some people just want to use their phone rather as a modem for data. Visitors who are not speaking French may have found out, that their voice communication with French locals is rather limited :o

You can get 1 GB for €10 on Mobicarte, but VoIP is banned and blocked which makes foreign calls quite expensive like €1.18 per min to the US.

On Let's go or the "Pochette pret a surfer" as its called now, you have VoIP available, pay the same €10 for 1 GB, but obviously need to squeeze some intermediate modem between your phone and the SIM for a reason I can't understand.

Hey, they are selling data for the same rate on both cards/plans. €10 per GB is a pretty good price for France, given that Orange has still the best coverage. Why do they make life so hard for their customers inventing crazy regulations of what to do or use and what not?:chair:

I think for a phone it's never a bad idea to have a SIM that supports voice even if you don't intend to use it much because you can't speak the language. You never know when you might have to call back home in a hurry or receive inbound calls or SMS.

Ans if you want to use Skype for your international calls just turn on your VPN service - these work fine on Orange data plans on voice+data SIMs.

It would be ideal to have a phone number but I noticed some local businesses don't even want to call or text mobile numbers, even local ones.

Email should work just as well as SMS at least.

I agree. But don't forget: most European visitors have already SIM cards mostly at the EU regulated rate. An odd call for around €0.19/min + tax won't set you back.
Problem is that Orange actually prohibits to use their only voice & data prepaid SIM called Mobicarte in a modem/router. Our collected experience on the prepaid Wiki of Mobicarte is somewhat cryptic as it seems to be a hit and miss: "This data plan is for mobile phones and may or may not work on other gear." - that's for voice & data Mobicarte.
And about Mobicarte too: "VoiP services will fail to initialize properly."
Velonomad writes on his blog http://www.velonomad.com/articles/ch...ata-in-france/: "And if you like Skype or VOIP, you can’t use them with Mobicarte. In fact, any attempt to use them could get your SIM blocked." This clearly contradicts your statement.

And this is exactly what I meant: why so much bossing around? Is there any sense this: "Newsgroups sont interdits"??? Operators of EU countries are obliged to net neutrality. This means all blocking or priotizing is illegal. KPN of the Netherlands just paid a high penalty for blocking VoIP. Orange doesn't dare to do this in any other market, but at home.

Yes, you may get your account suspended if you use VOIP directly on a Mobicarte. That's why you need to use a VPN service using a protocol such as IPSEC in tunnel mode as I said in my post. Most modern smartphones support this.

Last week I bought a Mobicarte SIM with a 1 GB package in Nice. I made no attempt at tethering, but had no problem calling home over VoiP, using Skype and Whatsapp.